A man who orchestrated a prison van ambush in 1987 in an attempt to free a prisoner has been executed.

William Van Poyck died at 7:24 p.m. Wednesday by injection at the Florida State Prison.

The 58-year-old was convicted of murdering prison guard Fred Griffis. His case garnered international attention because Van Poyck published three books and maintained a blog while on death row.

Van Poyck and Frank Valdes ambushed a prison van outside a West Palm Beach doctor's office in a failed attempt to free James O'Brien. Prison guard Fred Griffis was fatally shot after he threw the van's keys into the bushes to foil the escape.

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Texas Department of Criminal Justice

Lawrence Lee Buxton was convicted of capital murder in the shooting death of Joel Slotnik during a grocery store robbery. Buxton shot Slotnik, a customer, because Slotnik's five-year-old son wouldn't get down on the floor as ordered.